For some reason, Chinese students love the phrase “broaden my horizons.’’ Unfortunately, they almost never get it right.
My colleague Jennifer showed me these peculiar versions from her final exam.
- abroad my horizon
- bread my horizon
- wide my eyes
- borden my eyes
One student wrote: “I want to expand my eyes, not just stare at China.’’ While not technically correct, there’s some poetry in there.
Jennifer also passed on this gem from a student who wants to study abroad at Yale, NYU or “Harword University’’ because “there clusters lot of wits from different countries.’’
The student wrote that getting a “high education’’ would help him “enter the heaven where I can live a happy life’’ and “suit the globalization tendency.’’
I think the kid has a future as an academic writer.
How are your Chinese lessons going?